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A Few moments later.

Cindi approaches Akari with a smile, having gotten caught in another conversation before she found her way to her girlfriend. Truly, Cindi has been enjoying meeting other furs and just being free to express herself... definitely starting to understand what they all mean by not having to pretend.

She takes Akari's hand in hers and grins at the couple Akari is conversing with: "May I borrow my girlfriend for a bit?"

Akari has been opening up to folks bit by bit, the bubbly part of her getting bolder as she gets more comfortable with the other furs, and the smile on her face speaks volumes.

Though, when she spots Cindi coming, she quite literally glows with happiness, reaching out to take Cindi's hand. "Anytime and always, love!" She glances apologetically at the couple she was speaking too "I'm sure we'll talk again, later!"

She giggles happily as she follows Cindi to the side.

Cindi grins at her girlfriend, her heart soaring at seeing her open up and being so happy. "Guessing you found something to talk about after all, love." She leads the way towards a free pair of bean bag chairs.

Akari laughs, "Everyone has been so nice, Cindi! And so happy to listen and share what they know about all of this. I feel so giddy about it all."

She flops back into one of the bean bag chairs alongside Cindi, keeping hold of her hand, "I'm so happy we came~."

Cindi laughs as she sits down: "Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Maybe not that surprising, but still such a positive feeling about this." She leans over to give Akari a soft kiss: "Very glad we came here~."

Akari giggles, blushing at the kiss. She looks at Cindi with a raw love in her eyes, "You're pretty amazing. And it still took me by surprise. I don't... I don't open up to strangers easily. And... they've given me a lot to think about once this weekend is over."

Cindi nods, mmhm'ing as she leans on the beanbag chair just slightly towards Akari, her right shoulder touching Akari's left: "Yeah... everyone here has more experience than us, and I feel a bit silly for not poking online more before this."

Akari squeezes Cindi's paw, leaning back against her, "Me too... though, we have had plenty to keep us busy without. But I think we need to be at least a little more active with the group going forward. A-and this is Me saying that."

Cindi smiles: "I agree. I find myself wanting to be in this sort of meets... what madness is this, I want to be social?"

Akari giggles, "Madness for sure. But being social won't kill us. Probably. Makes me feel a little jealous that there's so many folks who are all so cute~."

She shifts to look at Cindi once more, "Mmm... still, none of them are as cute as you."

Cindi laughs, blushing: "I'm not that cute! I refuse to be..." She grins: "Besides, you are."

Akari grins, leaning in to kiss Cindi's cheek. "You refuse to be, hm? Well, I don't mind being 'the cute one' in the relationship if you don't want to be. I... I like being cute."

Cindi giggles: "That's only right and fair. In raw measuring of cuteness, you come first. I can be nearly as cute-" She wiggles her paw in the air as though to emphasize the point: "-but not as cute." She nods sagely... then breaks into more giggles.

Akari blushes, glowing slightly as she covers her snout in her paws in a bit of embarrassment, though she quite clearly enjoys the attention, "If you say so, I really have no choice but to agree, love."

Cindi mm's: "Sad but true. You are the designated cutest in the room, and that is your fate."

Akari takes a deep breath, then does her best to pose dramatically while still draped over the bean bag chair, "I... accept this fate. I will uphold my position with dignity, respect, and most of all, cuteness, and devote myself to finding ways to become even cuter in the future."

Cindi gives a small clap with her paws, which doesn't really amount to a lot of actual sound. "Sounds wonderful, my dearest. I will do my best to help you on this certainly difficult journey."

Akari settles back in, her thick tail thumping against the floor happily as she glows, "...so... you were asking me what I want to do when we were driving here, right? Th-this is kinda silly but... I think I might want to go back to college... to take some acting classes."

Cindi blinks. "...okay, I did not expect that. Didn't you... I thought you were not the biggest fan of it in the end?"

Akari blushes, her hooves tightening their grip on the beanbag chair, "I- I didn't. Or, well, I did... I was just really, really anxious, and thought I was going to screw up, or wasn't good enough to bother..."

She swallows, "B-but... I don't know. I have a few reasons now to want to get better at performing, and to express myself like this... a-and it just sounds sorta fun again... maybe it's a bad idea... but I wanna try it."

Cindi squeezes her paw on Akari's hand: "Hey. If you want to go for it, I'll be in the front row cheering for you." She looks up at Akari's eyes: "Promise."

Akari's expression brightens once again, "Oh, Cindi~. You're the absolute best! I know this is all kinda out of nowhere but I've been talking about it with the others here, and once I had the idea it just seemed 'right', you know?"

Cindi nods, then smirks as she thinks of something. "Like... say, to give a random example... what would you think if I wanted to take my looks - that is, my looks as Cindi - to a bit more metal direction?"

Akari tilts her head, "More metal...? You mean..." She glances around the room, spotting the panda. She takes a moment to imagine Cindi like that, "Less cute, for sure... I think it could be really um... hot." She giggles quietly at that, but truth of the matter is that she is a little flustered at the thought.

Cindi lifts her paws in front of her: "Like, somewhere between Band-Maid and one of those gothic frilly dresses, and a matching jacket and..." She wavers slightly: "If uh... if I can learn, maybe makeup and hair to match..." She lowers her paws, hesitancy creeping in. "...not sure I can pull it off, but..." She trails off, giving Akari a sheepish smile.

Akari blinks, picturing it, "But you'd look amazing! I am all for it, Cindi! If that's what you want to do, then embrace it! I wanna see... I didn't even consider makeup and hair like this."

Cindi pauses, then smiles with a deep blush. "W-well uh... maybe it's not that weird for me to want to do... cool and feminine things I couldn't before, right? At least while I am in fur?"

Akari nods, giving Cindi a supportive smile, "I'll be cute, and you can be so, so cool. However you want to look, you know I'll love you. In fur, and out. Cute, metal, feminine, whatever you feel is you, I love it, and I want to see it."

Cindi smiles: "Y-yeah... I knew that. Just... you know, trying to find where I sit with all of this." She gathers her thoughts for a second: "If there's a... more me way to express myself, while also being Cindi... I think I want to find it."

Akari turns to give Cindi a half-hug from her sitting position, "I want you to be happy, and I'll help you find it however you want."

Cindi nods. She is quiet for a second as she leans into the half-hug. "There is also... other stuff, but that's more... between-us, not-party talk." She whispers: "...gender stuff."

Akari blushes, nodding. She gives Cindi a squeeze before leaning back into the bean bag chair, "I... I have some thoughts on that too. But you're right. Not here or now."

Cindi nods, then finds her smile again. "We have a party to make friends in, after all." She gives Akari's shoulder a soft squeeze, before offering her paw to get the two of them back up from the soft bean bag chairs... easier said than done, she rather quickly realizes.

Akari takes Cindi's paw, powering through the effort to stand back up in order to hug Cindi tight. "Yeah~. Wanna stick together? Making new friends is a lot of fun, but... it's even better together."

Cindi hugs: "Well I certainly can't say no to that proposition. Not that I would." She gives Akari a quick kiss, then turns back towards the rest of the party, who have politely given the pair space for the last few moments.

Akari kisses back, releasing the hug but not Cindi's paw. "I kind of thought you might agree." She turns back as well, walking alongside Cindi back to the party.

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